U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,672,849; 5,483,709; 5,337,845, 5,335,651; 5, 370,111; and 5,117,521 are hereby incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth in their entirety.
This invention relates generally to hospital beds, and more particularly to hospital beds which convert from a bed configuration to a chair configuration and which, in doing so, provide for patient egress from the foot end of the bed and access to an onboard patient care module.
During a patient""s stay in a hospital, the patient is normally confined to his or her hospital bed for some period of time, at least initially. During this portion of the patient""s hospital stay, all of the care functions provided by attending physicians, nurses and the like are provided to the patient as he or she resides on the hospital bed.
Since the patient is not ambulatory during this period of his or her stay, the patient is unable to leave the hospital bed and travel to, for example, the bathroom. Thus, attending personnel must provide the patient with a bedpan for use on the bed. As is appreciated, use of a bedpan on a hospital bed by a patient who is in a generally supine position is difficult and cumbersome, at best.
It has therefore been an objective of the present invention to provide a hospital bed which includes an on-board toilet module which permits use by a patient in a conventional manner as opposed to the difficulties encountered with use of a traditional bedpan.
Hospital beds which convert to a chair configuration have been known for some time. Particular types of chair beds which provide for convenient and ready egress of a patient from the foot end of the bed when the bed is configured into a chair configuration are disclosed in co-pending applications Ser. Nos. 08/234,403 and 08/186,657 assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In those applications, chair beds are disclosed which have vacatable foot sections which, when the patient support platform is lowered to a lowermost position, allow the patient""s feet to rest directly on the floor. Sideguards/handrails are provided on the foot end of the bed and are convertible from pivoting footboard halves for grasping by a patient to aid in egressing from the chair configured bed and in moving from a sitting position to a standing position. The patient can manipulate the vertical control of the hospital bed to assist the patient in moving from a stooped position to an upright position.
Another objective of the present invention has been to provide a hospital bed which provides for repositioning sideguards/handrails which are located at the foot end of the bed to a position intermediate the foot end and head end casters such that any downward load applied by a patient to the sideguards/handrails is applied intermediate the head and foot end casters in order to optimize the stability of the bed as a patient egresses from the bed and moves from a sitting position to a standing position.
In a chair bed of the type as disclosed in co-pending applications Ser. Nos. 08/234,403 and 08/186,657, the patient may have occasion to move from the chair configured bed to a patient care module positioned at the foot end of the bed, such as, for example, an exerciser, a scooter or walker, a toilet or a wheelchair, as disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 08/230,061 also assigned to the assignee of the present invention. It would be helpful if structure were provided to help guide and stabilize the patient as the patient moves from the chair configured bed to the patient care module.
It has therefore been yet another objective of the present invention to provide apparatus for stabilizing and guiding a patient from a chair configured hospital bed to a patient care module positioned at the foot end of the hospital bed.
The present invention attains the stated objectives by providing, in a preferred embodiment, a hospital bed comprising a base with casters, a main frame mounted above the base, a patient support platform longitudinally movably mounted on the main frame and including a leg panel, and a toilet module disposed beneath the patient support platform and normally concealed by the leg panel. The patient support platform and toilet module are configured such that when the patient support platform is moved toward a head end of the bed the leg panel retracts from over the toilet module exposing the toilet module for use by a patient. The leg panel pivots downwardly after retracting from over the toilet module, and the patient support platform further includes an upwardly pivoting head panel, the bed being configured such that when the leg panel is pivoted downwardly the head panel is pivoted upwardly, the bed assumes a chair position.
The patient support platform further includes a pair of bolsters, one of which is located outboard of each lateral edge of the leg panel. The leg panel and bolsters are configured such that after the leg panel has been pivoted downwardly the bolsters provide side support to a patient moving from the patient support platform to the toilet module and back.
The main frame of the hospital bed of the present invention includes a pair of spaced, longitudinal, generally parallel rails, with each of the rails having a foot end which diverges laterally outwardly. The laterally outwardly divergent foot ends of the main frame rails provide structure for guidingly docking therebetween a rollable patient care module, for example toilet, wheelchair or the like, to the main frame.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a hospital bed is provided which comprises a base having head and foot ends and casters mounted on the head and foot ends, a main frame mounted above the base, a patient support platform longitudinally movably mounted on the main frame, and a pair of pivoting footboard halves operably mounted to the patient support platform one of which is located on each lateral side at a foot end thereof. The footboard halves when oriented laterally to the bed function together as a footboard and when oriented longitudinally to the bed function separately as sideguards/handrails. The base and footboard halves are configured such that when the patient support platform is moved toward a head end of the bed the footboard halves are retracted to between the foot end casters and the head end casters. The patient support platform includes a downwardly pivoting leg panel and an upwardly pivoting head panel. The bed is configured such that when the patient support platform is moved toward the head end of the bed, the leg panel is pivoted downwardly and the head panel is pivoted upwardly, such that the bed assumes a chair position. A patient egressing from the chair configured bed and moving from a sitting position to a standing position while utilizing the sideguards/handrails applies a downward force via the sideguards/handrails intermediate the foot end casters and the head end casters, thus providing for maximum stability.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a hospital bed comprises a base with casters, a main frame mounted above the base, and a patient support platform mounted on the main frame and including a seat panel, a downwardly pivoting leg panel and an upwardly pivoting head panel, and a pair of bolsters one of which is located outboard of each lateral edge of the leg panel. The bolsters are movable from a position forward of and in a plane defined by the seat panel to a position above and along each lateral edge of the seat panel when the leg panel is pivoted downwardly and the head panel is pivoted upwardly to provide arm rests for a patient situated atop the bed configured as a chair.
According to yet a further aspect of the present invention, a hospital bed comprises a base with casters, a main frame having head and foot ends mounted above the base, a patient support platform having head and foot ends longitudinally movably mounted on the main frame and including a downwardly pivoting leg panel and an upwardly pivoting head panel. The patient support platform is configured such that when the patient support platform is moved toward a head end of the main frame the leg panel pivots downwardly and the head panel pivots upwardly, the bed thereby assuming a chair position. A frame is mounted to the head of the main frame and the foot end of the main frame and extends along and over the patient support platform. A traveling harness is mounted to the frame and is adapted to be secured to a patient. The traveling harness provides security and stability to a patient as the patient egresses from the bed configured as a chair and moves from a sitting position to a standing position and onto a patient care module positioned at the foot end of the main frame.
According to still a further aspect of the present invention, the frame mentioned above is mounted to the head end of the main frame and is operably mounted to the foot end of the patient support platform. The frame is operable to extend and retract along the length thereof as the patient support platform extends and retracts on the main frame. The frame is an orthopedic frame which maintains a relative distance between the frame and a patient on the patient support platform as the platform extends and retracts.
In order to carry out the longitudinal movement of the patient support platform and the pivotal movement of the leg panel, the present invention provides a first piston and cylinder drive for moving the patient support platform longitudinally toward the head end of the bed, and a second piston and cylinder drive for pivoting the leg panel downwardly after the patient support platform has traveled a predetermined distance toward the head end of the main frame in order to first clear the onboard patient care module. The leg panel comprises a calf panel pivoted relative to the main frame and a foot panel pivoted to the calf panel. A first linkage is operable between the foot and calf panels for pivoting the foot panel relative to the calf panel, and a second linkage is operable between the calf panel and the main frame for pivoting the calf panel relative to the main frame, with both the linkages being actuated by the second piston and cylinder drive.
The first linkage comprises a first link having first and second ends, the first end being pivoted to the foot panel, a second link having first and second ends, the first end being pivoted to the second end of the second link, the second end having a protuberance thereon, the second link being pivoted to the calf panel intermediate the first and second ends, and a roller operably connected to the first piston and cylinder drive and normally contacting the second link intermediate the first and second ends. When the first piston and cylinder drive is actuated the roller rides along the second link towards the protuberance; the second link rotates in response thereto causing a force to be applied to the first link which moves the foot panel downwardly relative to the calf panel. The first linkage further includes a spring operable between the foot panel and the first end of the second link.
The second linkage comprises at least a second roller operably connected to the first drive, the calf panel including a roller bearing plate for the second roller to roll along and bear against, the roller bearing plate supporting the calf panel on the second roller. When the first drive is actuated the second roller rides along the roller bearing plate toward an end thereof. When the second roller rolls off the end of the roller bearing plate, the calf panel is permitted to move downwardly relative to the main frame. The roller bearing plate further includes a ramp commencing at the end thereof, and when the second roller rolls off the end the second roller rolls along the ramp.
One advantage of the present invention is that a hospital bed is provided which includes an onboard toilet module which permits use by a patient in a conventional manner as opposed to the difficulties encountered with use of a traditional bedpan. The toilet module can be carried by the bed full-time in an onboard manner. No lengthening of the bed is required however as the toilet module fits within the footprint of a standard 93 inch long hospital bed.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a hospital bed is provided with pivoting footboard halves which are located at the foot end of the bed and which are utilizable as sideguards/handrails when a patient egresses the chair configured bed, which sideguards/handrails are repositionable prior to patent egress such that the downward load applied by the patient on the sideguards/handrails is applied intermediate the head and foot end casters thus optimizing the stability of the bed during patient egress therefrom.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that apparatus is provided for use in conjunction with a bed which converts to a chair for stabilizing and guiding a patient from the chair configured bed to a patient care module positioned at the foot end of the bed.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that in a hospital bed which converts to a chair, bolsters are provided adjacent the lateral edges of the leg panel which, when the leg panel is dropped to form a chair, are repositionable upwardly and rearwardly to over the lateral edges of the seat panel thereby providing convenient armrests for the patient in the chair configured bed.
The bed is transformed into an ambulatory/rehabilitation type bed by selecting an ambulatory/rehabilitation module with which to retrofit the bed from the group consisting of a rollable exerciser module for docking to a foot end of the bed for rehabilitation, a combination rollable scooter and walker dockable to the foot end of the bed for providing an independent means of ambulation, a rollable toileting module dockable to a foot end of the bed, a wheelchair module dockable to a foot end of the bed and a wireless nurse call/patient follower module providing an ambulatory patient a means of locating a nurse as well as providing staff a means of locating a patient. The foot end cavity of the modular bed advantageously provides space for receiving thereat the ambulatory/rehabilitation module which is selected from the group consisting of an exerciser module, walker module, toilet module and wheelchair module which are dockable thereto to aid a patient in ambulations and rehabilitation.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent during the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings herein, in which: